Through Jade Gate and Central Asia : An Account of Journeys in Kansu, Turkestan and the Gobi Desert.
London: Constable & Co Ltd., 1932. With a frontispiece and map. New Popular Edition. Rebound in orange-brown morocco with patterned endpapers. Gilt title and decorations on spine. Top and bottom edge stained pale orange. Octavo. xv, 304. 7.5" x 5" Three small spots to front board, minor rubbing to rear board. Foxing to text block fore edge and moderately throughout. Faint residue mark on front fly. One word underlined in blue pen on page 158, creasing to last two signatures due to map. Closed tear to map, previous tape repairs. Overall near fine, tight copy. Item #226300
A detailed account of three bold women's missionary journey through Asia in the early twentieth century.
Mildred Cable and Francesca French, along with Francesca's older sister Evangeline (Eva), were British missionaries in China. Known as the "Trio," these three women traveled throughout China and Central Asia, working for the China Inland Mission (CIM). In their thirty-some years far from home, the women faced multiple challenges, but as J. Stuart Holden, also a member of CIM, writes in the introduction, "They make light of the difficulties, for the joy of service sustained them and love lent wings to feet that were often weary enough" (x). Indeed, their joy is palpable in how they write about the lovely people they meet, the fascinating places they see, and the trials that were merely part of the adventure.
This near fine copy, signed by each member of the Trio, includes a frontispiece of the three women with Topsy, their adopted Chinese daughter, as well as a fold-out map of Sinkiang (Chinese Turkestan).
Price: $375.00